


G is for Genie

by Zeplerfer



Series: Alphabet Smut [6]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Archaeologist America, College AU, Genie England, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:22:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21958822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeplerfer/pseuds/Zeplerfer
Summary: If you want to be with a genie, you have to rub him the right way.
Relationships: America/England (Hetalia)
Series: Alphabet Smut [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/215465
Comments: 11
Kudos: 124





	G is for Genie

Gold coins covered every horizontal surface in the laboratory, overflowing onto desks and shelves. Graduate students bustled about cleaning and cataloguing the impressive collection. Their professor watched them closely, though she occasionally paused to glare at the coins with a level of annoyance rarely displayed at such a pile of priceless treasure.

The oldest coin was Lydian from fifth century BCE and the dawn of coin-making. Next to it were Roman aurei, second century CE. There were gold coins from all around the world—cruzado, moedas de ouro, sycee, and even a bezant from the reign of Emperor Komnenos.

And they had all been recovered from the wreckage of a 17th century privateer ship.

The students tossed around theories as they cleaned sea slime from the ancient coins. The privateer could have been a collector, they mused, promptly dubbing him Blackbeard the Numismatist. Another suggested it was an extremely expensive prank—one that must have broken the Banksy.

As they joked around, a normally talkative student stood cleaning his assigned coins in silence. The young man was tall, with honey blond hair and bright blue eyes accentuated by half-rimmed glasses. He wore a coffee-stained t-shirt and socks that didn’t match. He was so focused on his own thoughts that he didn’t notice another student watching him suspiciously.

“Ducat for your thoughts, Alfred,” the other student asked as he held up a coin.

It took Alfred a moment to realize anyone was talking to him. “What do you want, Ivan?”

“You seem like you have idea of where coins come from.”

“Me?” Alfred laughed. “No clue.”

Ivan persisted. “You must have _some_ guess.”

“Well…” Alfred’s blue eyes suddenly brightened. “It could be aliens. What else makes sense? We’ve finally found proof that aliens exist!”

The other students groaned and rolled their eyes. “Alfred, no one wants to listen to you talk about aliens,” one protested.

A dark-haired young man raised his hand. “I would not object.”

“Okay, other than Kiku. Just leave the rest of us out of it.”

Alfred and Kiku moved to the far side of the room and happily discussed aliens for the next hour, while the others theorized and Ivan continued to glare indiscriminately. When the students finally left the laboratory for the evening, they passed through a metal detector. Their professor was baffled, but she wasn’t stupid.

* * *

After dinner, Alfred quietly slipped away and hurried back to his tiny dorm room. His clothes were strewn across the bed and the faint scent of unwashed socks filled the air. Ignoring the mess, Alfred made a beeline to the bed and lifted up his pillow, revealing a beautiful golden lamp hidden underneath. He picked it up by its curved handle and examined it closely. The words on the side of the lamp had worn away over the years, but he could make out “ _maximum potentiae_ ” and “ _in servitutem_.” It meant something about a servant with great power.

No one knew Alfred had spotted the lamp in the wreckage and hidden it among his belongings. And now that he was finally alone, he had a chance to prove what he suspected—that the lamp was the greatest archaeological discovery ever made.

He took a deep breath and rubbed the side of the lamp.

Billowing green smoke poured out, until it solidified into the figure of an extraordinarily handsome young man with a piercing gaze, thick eyebrows, and messy blond hair. On the upper half of his body, he wore a green vest that hung open to reveal a smooth, lean chest. Beneath his belly button, his lower body turned into a tendril of smoke that connected him to the lamp.

“Yes, master?” the genie asked in a crisp English accent. Despite the subservient words, his expression was bored and his tone sarcastic.

Alfred sat down heavily on his bed. “Oh. My. God.”

“A genie, not a god. And, per genie law, I will grant you three wishes.”

Alfred shook his head in amazement. “What are you? Where did you come from? How are you even talking to me in English?”

The genie shrugged and spread his hands. His pale arms were bare other than golden shackles at the end of each wrist. “I need to understand your wishes to grant them.”

Alfred stood up and studied the genie closely—purely for science, of course. The handsome man seemed real. In fact, he was more flesh and blood than Alfred had expected. Alfred itched to reach out and touch the genie’s hair to see if it was as soft as it looked. But he had good reason to suspect that a darker power lurked beneath the attractive surface. “I’ve got so many questions.”

“I may answer them… if they amuse me.”

“Where’d the gold coins come from?” Alfred asked.

The genie crossed his arms and shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“I think your previous master wished for a fortune and you sank his ship by putting tons of gold coins into his hold,” Alfred guessed. “Which tells me you’re the sort of genie who’ll fuck people over if given a chance.”

"He wasn’t a nice man," the genie replied calmly.

“But did _everyone_ on his ship deserve to die?”

“After what he did to them...” The genie turned away, his gaze haunted. “He wished for a crew that would never tire, would kill without mercy, and would obey only _his_ commands.”

“Oh.” Alfred’s gaze dropped to the floor. "That's… that's awful." He felt sorry for the doomed crew. When Alfred looked up again, the genie was watching him closely. Alfred gave him a friendly smile. “I’m not gonna make you do anything bad. I promise.” He offered his hand for a handshake. “I’m Alfred, by the way.”

The genie stared at the proffered hand and shook his head. “I’m a genie. We don’t have names.”

“Not even a nickname?”

“ _Especially_ not a nickname.”

Alfred tilted his head to the side. “Do you want one?”

“I’m not a pet. You can’t just name me.” The genie crossed his arms and sighed. “If you really want to help me, _master_ , toss the lamp into the ocean. Then I can return to sleep.”

“Dude, I’m not throwing you into the ocean.”

“You may regret that,” the genie warned. “You have three wishes. You know what to do when you’re ready to use them,” he added, before disappearing back into his lamp.

* * *

It took all of Alfred’s self-control not to immediately rub the lamp again that night. Instead, he did his homework and went to bed. After the excruciating torture of a full day of classes and lab work, he eagerly returned to his dorm room and rubbed the lamp the next evening.

The genie reappeared in a flash of smoke. “Ready to make your first wish, master?”

“I don’t know what to ask for,” Alfred admitted.

“Money, fame, and power are the usual choices,” the genie suggested. “Good looks are also popular. In your case, I might suggest some magical help cleaning your room.” He glanced around and gave the messy room a nasty look.

“It’s not _that_ bad.”

The genie lifted an eyebrow. “Would you care to see how my accommodations compare with yours?”

“Sure, what the hell,” Alfred agreed. 

The genie snapped his fingers and they were transported to a luxurious rug piled with pillows in a room bordered with ornately carved marble columns. Tiles with intricate geometric designs covered three of the walls. The fourth wall consisted of an enormous arch that led to a courtyard with a verdant garden.

“Holy shit.” Alfred’s jaw dropped as he climbed off the plush pillows and walked across a thick Turkish carpet toward the lush greenery. Beautiful flowers in all the colors of the rainbow scented the air. Hummingbirds with jeweled wings flitted from flower to flower. In the center of the garden, a fountain babbled happily. He looked up—all he could see above him was a clear blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

The genie smirked as he followed Alfred outside. “I think you’ll agree these are _far_ more comfortable surroundings.”

Alfred gawked in amazement. “How is this even possible?”

“It’s bigger on the inside.”

Alfred dipped his fingers into the fountain and startled the graceful black and orange koi that had been swimming in lazy circles. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the genie sit down on a divan at the edge of the garden. The genie stretched out his legs, curling one underneath the other. Alfred did a double-take. In his amazement at seeing a garden within the lamp, he hadn’t noticed that the genie’s tendril of smoke had been replaced by long legs in harem pants made of dark green silk. The fabric pooled around the genie’s legs, suggesting their form, but revealing little. Alfred managed to restart the cogs in his brains by pulling his gaze upward to meet the genie’s eyes. The genie gave him a languid smirk.

As he walked around, Alfred studied the architecture of the courtyard, this time with more attention to historical detail. There was a hodgepodge of different styles—Moorish, Japanese, South American—but the earliest influences seemed to be Byzantium. None of it matched the extremely English genie.

“Most of your masters were explorers?” Alfred wondered aloud once he finished circling the garden and sat down on a cushioned bench near the genie. The inside of the lamp was interesting, but the genie was more fascinating than any decor. Alfred was quickly discovering a hitherto unknown attraction to lips that quirked upward at a delectable angle and eyes that sparkled like emeralds. He was even starting to find the thick eyebrows rather charming.

“A few. They weren’t too bad. They wished for fair winds, a good map, and plenty of clean drinking water. Occasionally rum.” He gave Alfred a knowing look. “I think I know what _you_ want to wish for.”

Alfred flushed guiltily. “I wasn’t going to do anything!” he protested.

The genie tilted his head to the side. “Why not?”

“Wishing for something like that is wrong.”

“Because it’s wrong for two men to lie together?” the genie asked pointedly.

“What?” Alfred blinked and remembered that despite the modern English, he was talking to someone who hadn’t seen the outside world in centuries. “No, no, no, not that at all.” Alfred waved his hand. “I don’t know what things were like on the pirate ship, but gays are totally normal now. Like, we can get married and adopt kids and everything.”

“Gay.” The genie slowly smiled. “What a delightful word. It’s strange. I see how much the world has changed with each new master, but it’s hard to pierce it together from fragments.”

“Well, I could borrow some documentaries from the library, if you like,” Alfred offered, hoping to distract the genie from making pointed comments about what Alfred wanted. “You could watch them on my laptop.”

“I suppose that could be interesting,” the genie replied, with thinly veiled excitement. His eyes sparkled with such enthusiasm that Alfred not only agreed to the plan immediately, he went to the school library that very night and checked out historical DVDs until he reached the account limit. He had a feeling the genie would enjoy the BBC series that covered the entirety of human history.

That night, Alfred found himself hanging out with a genie, in a lamp, watching DVDs about world history on his laptop (which the genie had also somehow been able to transport into the lamp) as the magical sky darkened to night. It was one of the weirdest things he had ever done, but also one of the most entertaining _and_ educational.

By the end of the evening, the genie invited Alfred to spend the night in the lamp, but Alfred declined. He was willing to hang out inside an object that was smaller than a basketball, but he didn’t want to fall asleep in it.

* * *

Over the next week, Alfred found himself spending every spare moment with the genie. The more time they spent together, the harder it became for him to remember that the genie was centuries old and magically bound to a golden lamp. When the genie lounged on his pile of pillows and read a book, he looked like a normal student, albeit one with an odd taste in pajama bottoms. He was smart, amusingly sarcastic, handsome and surprisingly tender (though he tried to hide it).

Alfred could spend as much time with the genie as he wanted, but only within the narrow confines of a tiny lamp. He wished he could show the genie the world outside his lamp. Yet it would be incredibly foolish to tell anyone about an all-powerful genie who had to obey the commands of whoever possessed his lamp. To start with, Alfred’s professor would be pissed at him from stealing a priceless artifact. Then the government would confiscate the lamp and take the genie away from him forever. Who knew what they would make the genie do. And they would never give Alfred a chance to spend time together with him ever again.

Seeing no way out of his predicament, Alfred sighed and let his head flop backward into the plush pillows they had piled in the center of the garden for a relaxing afternoon spent reading together.

“Something wrong?” the genie asked from the other side of the pillow pile as he glanced up from his book.

Alfred gazed over at the confused genie and gestured helplessly. “I just wish—”

The genie rolled onto his side and hastily pressed a finger against Alfred’s lips to stop him from completing his sentence. “Be careful,” he warned.

Alfred flushed. “Oops,” he mumbled against the genie’s finger.

Giving Alfred a warning glance, the genie lifted his finger. He used his elbow to prop himself up against a pillow. “Tell me what you desire without making a wish and perhaps I can help you with the wording.”

Alfred lost himself in the pretty green eyes staring back at him with concern and noticed for the first time the adorable dusting of freckles on the genie’s cheeks. “I was just thinking it would be nice if we could spend some time outside,” he admitted.

“That’s a very dangerous idea."

“I know.” Alfred rolled onto his stomach and sighed as he cupped his chin in his hands.

The genie’s face softened with a smile. “You’ve brought the outside world to me. For the first time in a thousand years, I feel like a normal person again and not just an all-powerful servant of the lamp.”

Alfred’s eyes widened. “You were a normal person once?”

“I’m not certain I was ever _normal_...” the genie explained as he rolled onto his back and gazed up at the fake sky. “My father was part of the gentry. I was the youngest son and a disappointment. He didn’t approve of my interest in magic and he approved even less of my taste in men. He disowned me when he caught me with one of the squires.”

“What an asshole!” Alfred cried indignantly.

“At that point, all I had left was my magic. I worked on ships and I sailed south in search of a teacher. That’s when I found a fakir.”

“A faker?”

“No, a fakir is a type of magician. He convinced me that I could become even more powerful if I focused my magic through a specific object. A magical lamp,” the genie added bitterly. “He used my own pride to trap me. He said I deserved my fate because the lamps are designed to hold those who become obsessed with power.”

“That’s a stupid punishment,” Alfred complained. “He had no idea what sort of person would pick up the lamp afterward and he’s giving _them_ unlimited power.”

The genie turned his head to look at Alfred and quirked one lip upward. “If my master wishes for something bad or selfish, I must interpret it in the worst way possible. People have to work for what they want and can’t just wish for it.”

“I'll use a wish to free you,” Alfred offered. "It'll be easy."

"It's not that simple." The genie avoided Alfred's gaze. “The lamp is the only thing keeping me here. If you free me, I’d be a spirit, wandering the earth.”

“Like a ghost,” Alfred whispered. He shivered.

“You’ve already helped me more than you can imagine. Now I have this window to the world,” the genie replied, gesturing to the DVD collection that Alfred had borrowed from the library. “And…” he trailed off.

“And?” Alfred prompted. His heart thumped loudly in his chest.

The genie turned to look at Alfred. He licked his lower lip and bit it gently. “I enjoy spending time with you,” he admitted. He gave Alfred a coy half-smile. “Perhaps you could grant one of _my_ wishes.”

“Of course!” Alfred instantly promised. His sense of caution came a second too late. “You’re not going to use it to fuck with me, are you?”

“Maybe,” the genie teased as he curled up closer to Alfred on their pile of pillows. He lifted one foot and gently stroked Alfred’s leg. 

“Oh.” Alfred blinked as realization dawned. “ _Oh_.”

“Is that a yes or a no?” the genie asked, his voice a touch hesitant.

“Yes, definitely!” Alfred beamed. He rolled onto his side and closed the short distance between them. He leaned in, meeting the genie halfway. Their lips met with a soft touch, like sunshine in the spring after a cold winter. The kiss was chaste at first, but grew more passionate as Alfred slipped his tongue into the genie’s warm, inviting mouth. As Alfred deepened the kiss, he wrapped his arm around the genie’s waist and pulled him closer. They lingered in the gentle embrace for a blissful eternity. Alfred’s heart soared as the genie melted against him with a soft, needy moan.

The genie tossed a leg over Alfred’s thigh and tangled his fingers into Alfred’s hair. Alfred’s skin tingled with desire as the genie rubbed against him in a way that suggested he wanted far more than just a kiss. 

“You sure about this?” Alfred murmured.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

Satisfied with the response, Alfred rolled over until he was on top and the genie had his back pressed against a soft pile of pillows. The genie gazed up at Alfred through half-lidded eyes hidden behind a few locks of his sandy blond hair. Giving in to temptation, Alfred brushed the hair to the side. It was as soft as he had imagined.

The genie gasped in pleasure when Alfred bent down to kiss his neck and then made his way down the genie’s lean chest, feathering kisses on his delicate nipples and his flat belly. As hard as it was to ignore his own tightening pants, Alfred was slow and gentle with each and every kiss. He’d fantasized about every delectable inch of skin he wanted to kiss and caress and now he was going to explore all of them even if it took him all night.

Below him, the genie moaned with wanton delight. His long eyelashes fluttered down onto beautifully flushed cheeks. Alfred grinned with satisfaction and plundered the genie’s mouth until his lips were bright red from all the kisses.

“Alfred,” the genie murmured in a low and husky voice that sent a coil of pleasure to the base of Alfred’s spine. “Get on with it,” he demanded. He reached for the bottom of Alfred’s shirt and with Alfred’s help managed to pull it off his head and threw it over a rose bush.

Shirtless and a bit sweaty, Alfred grinned and wrapped his hands around the genie’s waist. As the genie arched his back upward, Alfred tugged the harem pants off the genie’s long, sexy legs. He tossed them to the side and they puddled in a pool of dark green silk next to the fountain. Beneath the magical illusion of blue skies, Alfred paused to admire the shapely legs that had been tempting him from underneath the yards of billowing fabric. He shifted backward and kissed the top of the genie’s bare feet, then made his way slowly up the perfect legs until he had reached the creamy, delectable thighs. Beneath him, the genie was a gibbering mess of quivering need. Alfred’s eyes finally rested on the triangle-shaped fabric that tented over the genie’s cock. He gently removed the thin strand of cloth, only to discover that it was already sticky.

The genie blushed in embarrassment as Alfred caught his eye. "It's been so long…" he panted. "I just couldn't…"

Alfred leaned forward and kissed him on the side of the cheek. “I’ll start over,” he murmured into the genie’s ear.

“Thank you,” the genie whispered back.

Good to his word, Alfred kissed the genie on the lips again—softly and sweetly. He peppered kisses along the genie’s jaw and left love marks on his neck. Even as Alfred’s own cock throbbed with need, he teased the genie’s nipples until they were hard and aroused. By the time he was finished, the genie’s cock was fully erect and leaking precum.

And that’s when Alfred realized he had forgotten something. “Uh, lube?” he asked. “Condom?”

The genie gazed up from his pile of pillows, his hair splayed around his head like a golden halo and his expression dazed and debauched. He blinked a few times and managed to put together a coherent thought. “In your room?”

Alfred nodded. “A bottle in the dresser by the bed and the box next to it.”

The genie furrowed his thick eyebrows in concentration and the bottle of lube suddenly appeared on the ground next to them. Alfred quickly squirted a generous dollop into one hand and thickly coated his finger. Meanwhile, the genie spread his legs and made more room for Alfred to kneel between them. Then the genie grinned and lifted his ankles onto Alfred’s shoulders.

“Damn, you’re flexible,” Alfred replied with an admiring whistle.

With the genie’s perfect ass right in front of him, Alfred wasted no time in slipping his slick finger into the genie’s tight, warm sphincter. The genie gasped and arched upward as Alfred explored deeper and struck his prostate. With his other hand, Alfred re-positioned a pillow to provide back support and a more comfortable position.

Slowly and gently, Alfred worked his way up to two fingers and then three, earning wonderful moans each time he pushed his fingers deeper. Alfred could spend a lifetime admiring the genie’s flushed cheeks and the thin sheen of sweat that made his fair skin glisten in the magical sunlight.

The genie gasped and the needy sound sent a jolt of need directly to Alfred’s cock. He’d moved as slowly and gently as he could, but he felt ready to explode from pent-up need. Every nerve sparked with electricity and his heart pounded with desire.

Alfred unzipped his pants and pulled down his pants and boxers with impatience. He held his cock with one hand and cupped the genie’s ass with the other hand to bring him into the right position. He pushed his hard cock in as slowly as he could manage. Every inch was a warm delight that thrilled his sensitive skin better than his own hand ever could.

“Faster,” the genie panted.

Alfred laughed and complied. He knew he’d hit the right spot when the genie thrust his hips upward and moaned with wanton delight. Alfred quickly lost himself in the pounding pleasure, thrusting until the genie came in a white sticky mess on his own stomach. The genie melted into the pillows in a limp, satiated heap as he rode the blissful wave of his orgasm. His inviting ass was warm and soft as Alfred panted and thrust in with a ragged pace. Overwhelmed by sheer pleasure, Alfred gasped and orgasmed himself. With his last coherent thought, he managed to flop down onto the pillows beside the genie. He gently spooned the other man and sighed with sheer contentment.

“You’re gorgeous,” Alfred murmured over the pillows as he buried his face in the genie’s soft hair.

“Arthur,” the genie whispered.

“What?”

“My name.”

Alfred blinked. “I thought you didn’t have one?”

“I did a long time ago.”

“ _Arthur_ ,” Alfred whispered, testing it out. “I’m gonna figure out how to free you,” he promised.

“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I mean it.” Alfred brushed his fingers through Arthur’s sweat-dampened hair and kissed the top of Arthur’s head. Around them, the fountain continued to make a peaceful sound and the gentle scent of flowers filled the air. Alfred closed his eyes and wished with all his heart that the moment of blissful contentment could last forever.

* * *

Hours later, Alfred woke to fingers gripping his arm tightly as Arthur shook him awake. “How well did you hide the lamp?” Arthur demanded, his eyes wide and fearful.

“Um…”

A second later, Arthur disappeared. Alfred jumped to his feet in a panic. He pulled on his clothes as quickly as he could, not caring if he looked like a rumpled mess. Once he was dressed, he raced around the garden and rooms, desperately looking for an exit or weapon. Alfred had the sinking feeling that he knew who had broken into his room and discovered the lamp and he was going to make Ivan pay for it.

A split second later, Alfred found himself back in his dorm room. “Ivan!” he shouted as he lunged forward. But before he could take another step, he froze in shock. “Kiku?” he asked incredulously. “What are you doing here?”

Kiku stood next to Alfred’s bed and cradled the lamp against his chest. “I’m returning an artifact that should be studied by the team,” he replied icily.

“Look, it’s not what you think,” Alfred tried to explain. “If you tell the others, someone’s going to take him away and use the wishes to hurt people.”

“And you won’t?” Kiku demanded with an unexpected flash of anger. “Why are you the only one who can be trusted with this power?”

“I’ve had the lamp for over a month and I haven’t done anything.” Alfred glanced at the genie out of the corner of his eye. Arthur gave him a subtle shake of the head.

Kiku’s gaze swept between the two of them. He shook his head disapprovingly as he took in Alfred’s messy clothes and rumpled hair. “You have used the greatest discovery in archaeological history to satisfy your own desires.”

“No!” Alfred flushed bright red. “It’s not what you think.” 

“I’m taking the lamp with me,” Kiku declared. “And if you take a step closer, I _will_ use a wish against you.”

Alfred gauged the distance between them. It wasn’t very far, but he had the sickening sense that his friend could make a wish before he could wrestle the lamp out of his hands.

“I could make him go away,” the genie suddenly offered.

“Please do,” Kiku replied with a victorious smile. And just like that, Alfred was back inside the garden at the center of the lamp.

* * *

Alfred wasn’t sure how long he sat on the edge of the fountain, his back damp from the water spray as he drowned in the crushing, gut-wrenching feeling of betrayal. He yelped as a hand came to rest on his shoulder. Arthur sat down next to him, looking equally miserable

“Why?” Alfred demanded.

Arthur sighed. “You were going to do something stupid and if he used a wish against you, _I_ would be the one forced to carry it out.”

“I could have gotten the lamp back,” Alfred insisted.

Arthur shook his head. “No, I have a better plan.” He gave Alfred a fond smile. “Have you forgotten that we’re _inside_ the lamp?”

Alfred frowned in confusion. “So what?"

“You can rub the lamp from the inside.”

“You’re a genius!” Alfred jumped to his feet excitedly. “I’ll use a wish to make them forget about the lamp and then I’ll hide you so well no one will ever find you.”

“Make them forget, yes. But after that, you have to free me.”

“What? No! You’ll become a g-ghost.”

“The alternative is worse.” Arthur shook his head desperately. “You can’t hide me forever and even if you do, I’ll still be here after you die. I’m _tired_. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

Alfred sat down next to Arthur on the edge of the fountain and gently took his hand. “Are you sure?” He stared deeply into Arthur’s eyes. They flickered through a kaleidoscope of emotions—fear, guilt, hope—before settling on acceptance.

“I don’t want to wait another thousand years for a chance like this.” Arthur cupped Alfred’s cheek with his free hand. He pulled Alfred closer and kissed him desperately.

Alfred wrapped his arms around Arthur and kissed him back, knowing it would be his last chance. They embraced in the peaceful garden and Alfred tried to tell himself that it was for the best. After a few more desperate kisses, Arthur slowly pulled away.

“We should do it now, before they start using wishes,” Arthur insisted. He climbed to his feet and led the way to a small washroom inside his personal quarters. Arthur narrowed his eyes and the blue-and-white tile wall wavered and vanished, replaced by a pure golden wall.

Alfred reached out his hand toward the wall and hesitated. “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” Arthur whispered, nodding with determination. "This is the right choice."

“Okay, here goes.” Alfred rubbed the wall and held his breath. He watched Arthur closely and saw the moment his eyes glowed with ethereal power.

“What are your three wishes, master?” the genie asked.

“I wish that everyone but you and me forgot about the lamp.”

“Granted. And your second wish?”

“I wish…” Alfred shook his head. "No, I can't. I don't want to hurt you."

"I know. But it must be done and it won't hurt. Trust me."

Alfred slowly nodded as his eyes prickled with tears. Like ripping off a band-aid, it was better to do it quickly before he lost his nerve. He took a deep breath. “I wish you were free and happy and safe!”

“Granted.” Arthur titled his face upward and gave Alfred one final kiss. 

Alfred closed his eyes and savored the soft, warm kiss that gently faded away. He reached to pull Arthur closer, but his arms passed through thin air. Alfred opened his eyes to find that he was back in his messy dorm room. 

“Arthur?” he called out. “Are you still here?” Nothing responded. Alfred shivered. His room felt even colder and emptier after his glorious weeks spent with Arthur in their secret garden. In a neat pile next to him was his laptop, a stack of DVDs, and the bottle of lube. Even as he was being freed, Arthur had considerately returned Alfred's possessions to the room. Alfred sat down on his bed, pulled a pillow across his chest, and cried.

* * *

For the next month, Alfred did the bare minimum in terms of going to class and continuing his research. He brushed off Kiku’s polite inquiries of concern. Even Ivan seemed to notice a difference and took a break from insulting Alfred’s scholarship to ask him if he was okay.

The mystery of the gold coins from around the world was never solved. The best guess was that the privateers had come across buried treasure and loaded so much onto their ship that it sank during a storm. Alfred never told them the truth. They would think him crazy. Sometimes he believed he had hallucinated the entire experience.

When the New Year approached, Alfred finally gave into his friends’ pleas to go to a party. It was terrible. The party was too loud and everyone else was having too much fun. Alfred drowned his sorrows and had to sit down on the couch as he waited for the room to stop spinning. He stared morosely at his drink, which helpfully doubled in his vision. He reached for the glass and grabbed the wrong one.

“Alfred?" a familiar voice asked. "Are you okay?"

Alfred’s head jerked upward at the familiar accent and he found himself gazing into pretty green eyes filled with concern. The sudden movement was a huge mistake. Alfred’s stomach rebelled and he vomited all over the couch.

The next hour was a dizzy, nauseating blur as several people helped Alfred back to his room, with pit stops for more vomiting along the way. The people flickered in and out of focus, but one of them was definitely the ghostly apparition of Arthur. The last thing Alfred remembered was a voice tsking disapprovingly at the room. “It’s even messier than before…”

* * *

Alfred woke up on New Year’s Day with a pounding head and the feeling that a rat had died in his mouth. Memories of the night before filtered back and he jerked open his eyes. The light from the window sent a sharp lance of pain directly into his eyeballs. To his immense disappointment, he was alone in his bed.

With a painful groan, Alfred slowly climbed to his feet. He walked to the bathroom and relieved his overflowing bladder. He stared at his disheveled appearance and shook his head. Two aspirins and one glass of water later, he returned to his room and searched for his glasses. He frowned in confusion to find them sitting on top of a dresser. Usually he left them next to his cellphone.

There was only one conclusion: Arthur had come back to haunt him. Clearly Arthur regretted his decision to leave the lamp and now he intended to be Alfred's personal ghost for the rest of his life. The idea was terrifying, but it was almost worth it just to see Arthur again.

Alfred flopped face-first onto his bed and sighed. He didn’t move as he heard a noise and movement behind him. "Is that you, Arthur?" he mumbled into the pillow.

"Yes." The voice came closer. "You know, this isn't quite the welcome back I was expecting."

"Sorry," Alfred half-heartedly replied. His head hurt too much to focus.

Arthur sat down on the bed next to him and gently rubbed his back. "It's okay. I didn't like the clothes you puked on anyway."

"Ghosts have to worry about clothes?" Alfred wondered.

Arthur laughed. "Alfred, look at me," he replied.

Alfred ignored his pounding head as he rolled onto his side and blinked in the bright light. With mostly sober eyes, he took in Arthur's appearance. Arthur looked surprisingly solid and a little old-fashioned in his sweater vest. He gave Alfred a look of concern. "You're alive..." Alfred gaped in wonder. "You're alive!" he shouted, then winced in pain. Ignoring his pounding head, Alfred sat up quickly and pulled Arthur into a tight bear hug. He buried his nose against Arthur's neck and breathed in the musky scent. Arthur was warm and solid in his arms.

"You're not going to puke on me again, are you?" Arthur wanted to know.

Alfred shook his head and loosened his grip. "I'm feeling way better." He pulled back and gave Arthur a shaky grin. "How are you even here?"

"I woke up on the family estate in England and discovered I was the sole heir to a substantial fortune. As far as anyone there was concerned, I'm Arthur Kirkland and I've been lord of the estate for years." Arthur smiled gently. "Finding _you_ was harder than I expected. You never told me your last name."

"It's Jones."

"Yes, I know." Arthur clasped his hands and wrung them gently. "I found you online, but I wanted to meet in person. I should have waited until we were somewhere private, but I saw you at the party and I had to say hello."

Despite his hangover, Alfred felt like he was floating in the clouds. "You're alive," he repeated. He could stare at Arthur all day. He looked exactly as Alfred remembered him—tousled hair, pretty eyes, adorable freckles, and a lithe body that Alfred was dying to touch again. Even without the magic of the lamp, he was still utterly gorgeous and Alfred told him so.

Arthur sighed fondly. "You're not still drunk are you?"

Alfred shook his head. "I can't believe you're really here."

"I'm enrolled for the semester. Paying exorbitant tuition might I add."

"No, I mean I can't believe you're here and not a ghost."

"Oh." Arthur glanced down at the floor guiltily. "About that." He cleared his throat. "I may have slightly fibbed about what would happen when you freed me."

"Why?" Alfred frowned. "I would have done it in a heartbeat if I knew you would be a normal person again."

"I know. That was the problem. Part of you would be hoping that we could be together. And I had to interpret selfish wishes in the worst way possible."

"Oh." Alfred slowly nodded. "I get it. If I wanted to free you to be with you, it would have failed." His stomach felt hollow as a disturbing thought occurred to him. "You didn't sleep me me just so I would free you, did you?"

Arthur shook his head angrily. "Of course not!"

"Why then?"

"Well." Arthur blushed and his gaze dropped to the floor. "I mean. The usual reasons."

"Because I'm handsome and brave and kind?" Alfred suggested with a grin.

"And so humble," Arthur added with a grin of his own that gently softened into rueful smile. "I hope you can forgive the deception."

Alfred reached over and placed his hand on top of Arthur's. "I ralphed all over you, so we'll call it even." He took a deep breath and gave Arthur a hopeful look. "So... want to try this out, you and me, no lamp?"

"I wouldn't be adverse to seeing how it goes."

"Awesome." Alfred beamed. He leaned in for a kiss, but Arthur stopped him with a finger pressed against his lips.

"I'm not kissing you until you brush your teeth."

Despite his hangover and his pounding head, Alfred laughed. "As you wish," he replied. He hurried to the bathroom and returned for a minty fresh kiss that was a wish come true.


End file.
